Counting Lights
by SoulExecution
Summary: In the world of the pro wrestling, you need to fight with all your strength just to hope for a chance to make it. Even some of the best athletes can't succeed in such a competitive business. This story follows the career of Jake Vansen, both in and out of the ring, as he starts off wrestling as a nobody, a total rookie, who scratches and claws his way up the behemoth that is WWE.


A warm summer breeze blows over the Orlando skyline as a lone figure walks down a worn down sidewalk. He's wearing a black leather jacket thrown over a metal band t-shirt, has a sword necklace around his neck, and a pair of Doc Martens over his gray jeans. His rusty dark golden hair sticks out from under a gray paddy cap, gently covering one eye and lightly swaying with the wind. He has a single bag thrown over his shoulder as he looks around the campus, taking in the surroundings of what would soon be like a second home to him. He finally stops in front of a two story, brownish gray building. It doesn't look like much, but the white inscription at the top says it all. WWE Performance Center. This is where so many hopeful WWE wrestlers come to train, to test their worth and see if they just might have what it takes to get a golden opportunity in the WWE.

The glass doors slide open smoothly, and immediately the blond haired man at the front desk looks up.

"Can I help you?" he asks. The WWE hopeful walks up to him, trying his hardest not to display just how star struck he is at being greeted by none other than Billy Gunn.

"Y-yeah…I'm here to start up my first day at the Performance Center…I'm enrolling for wrestling classes."

"Ah, alright then, let's get you signed in. I take it you have all your forms completed?"

Swinging the bag from his shoulder, the young man pulls out a small packet of paperwork, handing it all to Billy. "Yup, everything's here. Athletic history, health records, you name it." Billy takes the stack of papers and casually flips through them, typing things into his computer along the way. He finally looks back up.

"Alright kid, now just one last thing. What do I call you?" The legend sticks out his hand, offering a handshake, which the newcomer quickly receives.

"My name is Jakub sir. Jakub Vansen."

"Over here is the catering area and just over there are the locker rooms. And of course in here is our most famous room…" Billy leads Jakub through a large doorway into what looks like a large gymnasium. The room is filled with six rings, each one housing a pair of wrestlers working on their craft. Looking at the individuals, Jakub doesn't recognize most of them, undoubtedly still rookies who have never even made it onto an episode of NXT yet. That is, until he reaches the last ring. Jakub's mouth falls open in shock as he sees which two wrestlers are duking it out in the squared circle.

"Is…that…" Jakub can barely get the words out of his mouth. "Yes sir, Cesaro and Sami Zayn, in the flesh." Billy replies. He raises an eyebrow. "You seem surprised to see them here. You should know that the Performance Center is frequently used by WWE main roster talent. A free gym coupled with rings for them to try out some new moves, its ideal for them to let their creative juices flow." Almost on cue, Cesaro performs a Superplex from the apron to Zayn, sending them both crashing to the mat. Jakub watches in awe as the two masters of the squared circle pull off complicated maneuvers with ease, until Billy Gunn's snapping fingers bring him back to reality.

"And with that." Billy begins. "The tour is over. Head on over to the locker rooms and get changed, I think Demott will be starting class sometime within the hour." Jakub expresses his gratitude for the warm welcome and makes his way to the locker room. He opens up a locker and slips off his street clothes, placing them into the small metal compartment. He opens up his bag and pulls out a pair of gym short, gym shoes and an old college t-shirt. He throws on the clothes and studies himself in a mirror on the way out. Not flashy, but I'll get some actual ring gear when I'm further on with my training, he thinks to himself. Jakub sits down on a bench to collect his thoughts, when he hears footsteps echoing in the locker room. He looks up, seeing a young man with pulled back dark brown hair, dressed in similar athletic wear to Jakub. He flashes a smirk.

"I thought I saw Billy walking someone new around… Congrats kid, you made it to the Performance Center! You are now a lump of clay, ready to be molded into the next big star…or something or other…" Jakub looks blankly at the man, who regains his composure. "Oh where are my manners. The name's Nathan Dunne, and as of today, I guess we're fellow students!" He sticks out a hand to Jakub, a grin on his face. Jakub wearily reaches out to return the handshake. "Right…nice to meet you…Nathan. Do you know when class is starting?" Nathan drinks down a bottle of water before answering. "Oh yeah, old man Demott is rallying the students together as we speak, we should probably get going." The two rise and head out of the locker room, as Bill Demott enters one of the rings and yells for all the students to gather around. Having all the students around the ring, Bill clears his throat and begins talking. "Ladies, Gentlemen, you truly are a privileged few. A privileged few who get to train here…" Nathan yawns. "I swear, old Bill gives us this same little speech every day. It's so annoying…" He complains. "Give him a break, probably the closest thing he gets to cut to a promo nowadays." Jakub replies. The two chuckle, when the room falls silent. Jakub and Nathan look around to see everyone's eyes fixed on them, including Demott's.

"I see we have some class clowns in our midst everybody! These two guys clearly think they don't need to listen to what I've got to say…alright, let's get both of your asses in the ring, right now!" Jakub and Nathan exchange a worried glance. "Let's go ladies, I don't have all day!" The two slowly enter the ring, Demott looking both up and down. "You must be the new recruit, Jake Vansen." Bill says, eying Jakub. "Not the best impression you could have made on your first day here. But since you clearly don't need to listen to this old timer, why don't you demonstrate taking a nice back bump for us." Jakub's eyes widen. "Uh…sir, I've never taken a bump before…I've never actually been in a ring before today!" A sinister grin crosses Bill Demott's face. "It's quite simple really. Look, just tuck your head in, and it'll be all over before you know it!" Before he can protest, Bill picks Jakub up for a scoop slam. He holds him in the air for a moment, allowing Jakub to get over the surprise and tuck his head as he was advised, before getting dropped. The initial shock is overwhelming. Bill didn't hold back, and Jakub's back stung as though he were stung by several angry wasps. Gasping, Jakub used the ropes to get back to his feet, coming eye to eye with a laughing Bill Demott. "Ah, the first bump. Always a special moment in the career of any wrestler. But hey, you just got in knocked off the bucket list! Now you can walk your ass out of this ring and actually listen…" Jakub quickly exits the ring, saying nothing, as Bill turns to Nathan. "Now, Mr Dunne. You've been here for a little while, so why don't you demonstrate something a little more…complex for us." Bill again scoops of Nathan, but slams him down much quicker than with Jakub, before then scaling a turnbuckle. "Today, Nathan will show us how to properly take a moonsault from an opponent!" Jakub looked at his comrade in the ring, whose eyes are wide in shock. Clearly he had only learned the bare basics of wrestling thus far, and aerial moves are uncharted territory for him, be it delivering or taking. Bill launches himself in a backflip from the top rope, landing with his torso on Nathan, who immediately rolls out of the ring after taking the move, gasping for air. "Now normally, when you do a diving move, you want to land on your own forearms or legs, to try and prevent significant damage to your opponent. Of course, when used as punishment, one can easily deliver full on impact with their bodies. But remember…don't try this stuff at home!" Bill lets out a loud belly laugh, as Nathan sulks back over to Jakub, not making a sound. "Now then, lets get to work!"

For the next several hours, the students engage in an intense routine, switching from various workouts to build strength and cardio to actually being in the ring and taking bumps. Each ring is designated to a different level of experience, so that those who have already been at the facility for some time wouldn't be held back training with the rookies. Jakub was placed in the ring with several other beginners, under the tutelage of Joey Mercury. The training focused mainly on simple back bumps, taken off of suplex's, scoop slams and a variety of other moves, including many finishers, making it one of the most common bumps in professional wrestling. The rookies all took turns running and rebounding off the ropes, jumping in the air and then landing back first on the mat, their head tucked and limbs raised. An exhausting workout, to put it likely, but such is the path towards achieving your dreams.

The cold water felt rejuvenating hitting the warm, sweaty skin. His first day over, Jakub was now in the locker room, cooling down. His back stung after all the bumps he'd had to take, the pulsing like that of a heartbeat. The water turned down, Jakub wraps himself in a towel and leaves the booth, heading back to his locker. He begins changing, as he hears footsteps. Looking up, Jakub sees Nathan walking in, tossing an apple up and down in his hand.

"I thought everyone was already gone for the day?" Jakub asks, throwing on his jacket. Nathan regards him for a moment before biting a chunk out of his apple, slowly chewing it before finally speaking.

"Around here, you're never alone man." He offers Jakub the apple, but Jakub gives a quite shake of his head, as Nathan shrugs and takes another bite.

"Is it always so intense?" Jakub asks.

"What, the apples? Nah, I just really had a craving today and-"

"No, the training. They were working us like crazy out there today!"

Nate finishes chewing another bite before breaking into a toothy grin. "Of course! This is the WWE! Well…almost… Point is, it's where the best in the world come! And if you're starting from the bottom, they'll work you until they think you can be grouped with the best! Or, if you're a seven foot tall, muscular football player…" Nathan shakes off the thought. My point is, even if Demott was kinda hard on us today, it's all a test! If you can get through this, you might just swim later on. If not…" Nathan makes a throat slitting motion.

Jakub smirks. "Yeah…suppose you're right." He stands, throwing his bag over his shoulder, and walking past Nathan, clasping him on the shoulder as he went. "I'll see you later man."

Exiting the Performance Center, Jakub stopped for a second to really take it all in. He just finished his first day of training, took the first step in the journey of making it in WWE. It was going to be a painful road, but soon enough, he might just go from counting scars to counting lights.


End file.
